The Secret Behind Their Lies
by Seleen 2
Summary: Sixth year. Decision time. Everyone has a choice to make, but a secret between Draco and Hermione may prevent them from making the right one. Staying away doesn't work, she can't fight it. What exactly is it, though? Full Summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so first Harry Potter story I'm posting on my new profile, I was formerly Seleen but forgot the password to that account. Sad day. Anyway, I've been grounded for a while but luckily my school has a library so now I can write again. Chapters might be a little short due to limited time. I've only got thirty minutes to write every day, give or take a little. I've already got a good deal of this written so updates should happen at least twice a week. **

**Summary: Sixth year. Decision time. Everyone has a choice to make, but a secret between Draco and Hermione may prevent them from making the right one. Staying away doesn't work, she can't fight it. What exactly is it, though? This magnetic attraction to Draco that has her falling to pieces- literally. More importantly, how will she survive the year? With a war looming and a terrible secret ripping her apart, Hermione is more vulnerable than ever. And where does Draco stand in all this? No one knows. No one knows anything for sure anymore.**

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><p>.<p>

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><p>"<em>Where have you been?" She stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed.<em>

"_Out." Was his simple reply._

"_You have blood on you."_

_He shuddered. "I'm being prepared for my initiation." He eyed her carefully. "You don't want to know whose blood it is."_

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><p>"Harry! Ron!" Hermione yelled happily, throwing her arms around her two best friends. She stepped back, smiling brightly, but she was tired. Just hugging them had caused waves of fatigue to wash over her. "Come on, we can sit in the Gryffindor Prefect compartment."<p>

"Are you sure? I didn't make Prefect." Harry said uneasily. After last years extensive rule breaking, even he was being cautious.

Hermione looked at Ron.

"I didn't either."

"But that doesn't make sense… you were one last year." Another thought occurred to her even as she spoke. "This means neither of you can be Head Boy next year… You have to be a Prefect for both fifth and sixth year to qualify."

"No offense Mione, but that wasn't something I was looking forward to do." Ron shrugged. "Too much responsibility."

"Yes, but we get out own dorm room with a kitchen and everything." They were approaching the Prefect compartments, the train chugging gently along, but occasionally jostling them. Loud laughter could be heard from all the compartments and as she passed each one, she peeked inside. Ravenclaw: Luna and Ernie, with Ginny, Neville, and Padma sitting with them. Hufflepuff: Hannah and Justin, talking quietly to a few others. Slytherin: Draco Malfoy lounging casually across from a tall blonde, twirling his badge in his pale hands. The compartment was completely filled; Parkinson, Nott and Zabini had joined them. Pansy's blue eyes met her honey ones and she sneered, flipping her off. Hermione supposed the flipping the bird worked in any world. She stepped back, frowning. Another wave of exhaustion hit her and she leaned back against the wall.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked concern evident in his green eyes.

"Oh nothing. Just Slytherins being Slytherins. Come on, we're here anyway." She slid the compartment door open and immediately sat down, happy to be off her feet. Harry and Ron had just settled into the seats across from her when Ginny walked in.

"Hey, Hermione they're kicking all of us non-Prefects out so you can have a meeting with the Head Boy and Girl." She said an apologetic look on her face as she took notice of how tired Hermione looked.

"Oh." Hermione sighed. "Well, I'll see you lot later, I suppose."

"Bye, Mione." Ginny said, watching her exit carefully. She was thinner, too.

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><p>Hermione walked into the Heads' compartment and took a seat in the corner. She could hear his voice, so close, finally, after so long. She'd gone a whole summer without it and wondering why she craved it so and now here he was, so, so close. She didn't look up, but she knew where he sat down. Ever since that day, she was acutely aware of his presence; of his every movement. She couldn't help it, he was just so overwhelming. Her breath caught in her throat and her chest tightened. She closed her eyes, squeezing them shut and shook her hair down in front of her face, hiding.<p>

"Settle down! Please, everyone, settle down. Take a seat!" A tall, bony girl with brown hair in a single, neat braid called above the chatter. She had to be in Ravenclaw. Next to her, a boy stood, already in school robes.

"I'm Carl Kimsman and this is Shana Lyner. We are this year's Head Boy and Girl." He paused, taking a deep breath. Not exactly your big, motivational speak type. "We know very well that this next announcement won't go over well. However, we feel it will be a good way to promote inter-house unity."

"Which we're going to need, given the circumstances." Shana said, firmly looking them all in the eye. "We're all in 5th, 6th, and 7th year. Old enough to know what's coming." Here she looked directly at Hermione, whose lips were pressed into a thin line as she took in what they were saying. She already knew what was coming, better then almost anyone. Hell, it wasn't even in the coming for her, it had arrived her first year at Hogwarts.

"Now, we would like you all to submit a copy of your schedule, and then we will pair you with a member of a different house whose schedule is the most similar to yours. After your have received your partner, you will need to get together and discuss what times will be best for you to patrol and on what days."

There was a lot of muttering as the Prefects reluctantly made copies of their schedules. Keeping her head down, Hermione went to hand hers in, just as another hand did, this one pale, like hers, but wearing a silver ring inscribed with a family crest. Her heart fluttered and she withdrew to her seat as soon as Shana had taken her schedule.

Could there be a chance she would get paired with him? Hermione pondered this question and what it would mean for her if they did get paired.

Would it dig up past memories? Ones that they had taken great pains to bury and had then done their best to forget.

But those kinds of memories were not easily forgotten.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Inside the Great Hall, the start-of-term feast announcements had been made and each house was chatting happily and welcoming new members over dessert. All except Hermione, that is. She sat quietly between Ron and Ginny, across from Harry. She could see Ginny stealing not so subtle glances at her every few minutes. She nearly sighed aloud; something would have to be done about that. Her stomach gave a little twinge, but she ignored it. It wasn't bothering her; she just didn't feel like eating. She supposed that was why Ginny was acting so odd. She knew she was thinner, but how was that a bad thing? Every girl strived to be thinner. He liked thin, pretty girls. She had the thin part down, but the whole pretty thing? That frustrated her terribly. She was so plain, her hair so unmanageable. It made her want to cry. Or throw herself off the Astronomy Tower. Especially when she knew that he would not only be constantly on her mind here, but in her presence as well. Her ultimate hell and heaven mixing strangely to torment her. Love or obsession? Was there a difference?

"Attention students!" Professor Mcgonagall called out, interrupting her despondent thoughts. "You will now follow your Head's of House's to your dorms. Prefects will report to the Head Boy and Girl." Hermione looked up, startled. She hadn't even noticed that the plates had been cleared and heaping piles of desserts were gone. The strict professor swept down from the podium, heading towards the Gryffindor table. She glanced around; nearly everyone was on their feet. Carefully, she stood, leaning on the table, trying to make her dependency look casual.

"I'll see you all tomorrow then." She gave them the best smile she could manage.

"Of course!" Ginny said brightly. "We'll eat breakfast together and go over our schedules." Emphasis on the 'eat'. Hermione wanted to smack the red head and hug her at the same time. Ginny was worried. At least she had noticed, unlike so many other people. Perhaps she would eat a little something at breakfast tomorrow, just so Ginny wouldn't worry so much. She gave them another quick smile before walking away as fast as she could. Doing her best to weave in and out of the people milling around and calling to friends, she spotted Dean in the crowd. She gave her fellow sixth year prefect yet another fake smile and walked over to stand by him.

"That was some pretty impressive crowd navigation." He said, grinning.

"Yes well, I'm small. Its easy to weave." She laughed, it felt good to laugh. And yet wrong, somehow. Why couldn't she just enjoy life like others did? Even Harry was better then this.

"Or you could just run right between people's legs." Dean added, not noticing her sudden uneasiness.

She tried to maintain a small amount of humor, "I might see a few things I never wanted to, though."

"Hmm maybe I should try it sometime then." He said suggestively. At her look of shock he added, "I'm joking, Hermione. Besides, I'm entirely too tall.

"You're practically a giant." She nodded, and compared to her, he was. Hermione was all of five feet three inches, whereas Dean had to be at least six foot. She felt like a dwarf. "What are we waiting for, anyways?"

"Oh, they're reading off partners. Carl's covering sixth years. We should probably get up there." He motioned for her to follow him as he pushed his way through the crowd. She stuck close behind him, letting him clear the way. When they finally made it through to the front, she could hear Carl calling out names.

Hermione waited impatiently as prefects were called and the pairs left, either irritated or thrilled with whom they would be working with. Dean soon left with Luna from Ravenclaw, leaving her to wait alone. The other Ravenclaw sixth year left with the blonde Slytherin girl, who's name, Hermione learned, was Daphne Greengrass.

"Hermione Granger?" She stepped forward and Carl gave her a sympathetic look. Oh, shit. "Your schedule best matches that of… Draco Malfoy." He trailed off and looked back down at his paper.

Silence. People turned to stare at her, Gryffindor's Golden Princess, paired with Slytherin's Icy Prince. Hermione could barely breathe and she was pretty sure her mouth was hanging open.

"Close your mouth Granger, preferably before one of these boys decides you need something long and hard stuck in it." Malfoy drawled. He strolled casually up to her, smirking his trademark 'who gives a fuck?' smirk. She didn't bother to suppress her irritation. There may have been the incident between them, but he was still Malfoy and he still said gross things that pissed her off.

"You're sick, Malfoy." She spat, shaking her head.

"And you're wasting my valuable time." He turned and walked away, leaving her to catch up to him. It took her awhile, his legs were longer. He had to be taller then Dean. "Took you long enough."

"You're walking too fast!"

"You're walking too slow."

"Malfoy!"

"Granger!" He said mockingly, still smirking.

"Slow down!" She snapped.

"Speed up!" He replied, still walking quickly. "And unbunch your panties, will you? I've had enough of bitchy girls for one day."

"Oh poor boy, was mummy Death Eater in a bad mood?"

Draco spun around and pushed her back, pinning her to the corridor wall by the throat. "Don't you ever say a word about my mother."

"Get your hands off me. We all know your mother is as sick and twisted as they come. Just like the rest of your family." The hand on her neck flexed.

"You don't know anything about my family. I wouldn't be talking like that, were I in your position." He threatened, flexing his hand again.

She stared up at him, eyes blank and uncaring. "I guess that's why I'm a Gryffindor, known for courage and you're a slimy Slytherin. Coward."

Her expression didn't match the anger in her voice. It was then that he noticed how slim her neck was, his finger easily wrapping around it. Frail, just like the rest of her. "Coward? I could kill you right now."

She raised a pale hand, covering his own and squeezing it more tightly around her throat. "Do it." Her hand was like ice. She was ice, the 'golden' girl, colder then the dungeons. Irony at its finest. Circles under her eyes and hollow cheeks all stood out under his scrutiny. He could kill her, so easily. She already looked ready to break in half. Was that concern? No, mocking. So Princess Prude had some sort of dark, destructive secret. Poor little girl. She didn't know pain, or sleepless nights, or desperation.

"What? So ready to die? What could be eating poor, little Granger? Making her look sick and lost, like an abandoned dog. But I suppose that's what you are, isn't it? Lost in a world you don't belong in." He shook his head. "Pathetic."

"Let. Go. Of. Me." She said, emphasizing each word. "You don't know anything about me and I don't care what happened between us last year, you have _no_ _right _to even so much as look at me. So if you're done trying to insult me and get a reaction why don't you just fuck off? Do us both a favor and forget you noticed anything."

He released her neck, but still stood close, looming over her. "Oh please, Granger. Don't act like whatever's got you so fucked up is so big and dark and secret that I need to 'forget I noticed anything'. This isn't a dramatic novel, Princess. This is real life. And in real life, I don't care if your big secret leads you straight over the edge of the Astronomy Tower." He spun on his heel, walking away and leaving her staring after him, truly shaken. "Don't take up my weekends when you submit our Patrol options and we'll have no problems."

It wasn't just his words that had left her feeling horrified, though they had hurt terribly, but his presence. So close, she had cherished every second of his hand, so warm against her neck and then when she placed her hand over his, feeling the rightness of it. Of him and his touch. How could someone so cold be so warm? But then, she was always associated with light and warmth, but always felt cold. Maybe that was it, he warmed her. Fulfilled her in the strangest way. She felt so alive and she dreaded how she would feel now that he as gone. Of course, there was Patrols, so she would see him at least three times a week, but would that be enough? Why did she need that to be enough? Why did she need to be near him at all? All he wanted to do was hurt her. He had know idea that his comment about the Astronomy Tower matched her previous thoughts during dinner perfectly, or that at this moment, considering her future, it sounded like a beautiful idea. She barely realized that she was moving and moving quickly towards the Astronomy Tower now, she was so lost in her thoughts. Did he really hate her so much that he wouldn't care if she jumped to her death? No, he had to care at some level. He had to. Because she knew if he died, she would probably die too. The thought scared her more then anything. Not because she would die, but the thought of a world without him in it and how it would feel and the very fact that she knew his death would destroy her was just so shocking. She was nothing to him, worse then that, she knew. And yet, after what had happened last year, she couldn't ever bear the thought of him experiencing any pain, or hating her, or dying. His death was such a likely thing, too, in the present circumstances. War was approaching them so fast and they were both on opposite sides, her by choice, and his choices limited by his family, his friends, and his courage. Which she knew was lacking, though she didn't really blame him. He was pureblood, from a family devoted to Lord Voldemort before he was even born. He was born into that world and took more then just courage to leave everything you've ever known and the people you love. Yes, she knew he loved his family despite their many flaws, especially his mother.

She reached the Astronomy Tower and sat close to the edge, looking down at the ground, so far below her. As she sat, she realized the extent of the amount of thought she had put into Malfoy. His family, his friends, and his life choices. All of it had been carefully mulled over during sleepless nights. Mad, she was completely mad.

"When I said I didn't care if you went off the edge of this tower, I didn't think you'd actually consider it." His voice came from behind her, low and beautiful. Now she was imagining him? Insanity.

"Malfoy? Are you real?" she asked, getting shakily to her feet.

"Am I-? Are you mad, Granger?" he asked incredulously.

"I think I might be." She whispered, staring wide eyed at the ground.

"Well just don't jump while I'm here. I don't need that suspicion on me." She walked past him, not making a sound and only acknowledging he'd spoken with a small nod. "Were you seriously…considering it?"

"I guess you don't realize the accuracy of your words sometimes," She said, pausing by the door to look back at him. Then, with a soft smile, she was gone. When he walked out into the corridor, glancing in all directions, he didn't see her at all.

Hermione walked swiftly and silently back to the Gryffindor common room. He would be curious now and she knew he might go very far to satisfy that curiosity. The thought scared her. She would have to be very careful.

**I am so very sorry, I posted this without editing it by accident, as well as the next chapter, which will be edited and reposted tomorrow. Thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The first day of classes at Hogwarts started with students of all Houses stumbling drowsily out of bed, late, and rushing to get ready and down to breakfast.

Except for Hermione, who had been up since the first light of dawn had begun to show. She had walked through the quiet castle, admiring the shadows that the morning light cast throughout the halls. Some paintings still snored softly; others watched her curiously, offering up small smiles and greetings. They had witnessed many students who couldn't sleep and pitied her, but assumed it would pass. How wrong they were. An entire summer of sleepless nights and a building hatred of food had left her weak. She knew she was in danger of being discovered simply because if she got any weaker, she might not be able to go on. And then they would see. See her tired eyes, her thin arms, her ribs, and the bruises that formed so easily. And the scars. Ah, the scars. Pain was like a cold bucket of water, keeping her going when she felt she couldn't go on.

"Hermione! Aren't you going the wrong way?" Harry called as she climbed back through the portrait hole. That was the only problem with this place. Too much climbing.

She sighed. She had been hoping that they would still be getting dressed when she arrived. No such luck. Harry was sitting in an armchair, tying his shoes and watching her with an expression of curiosity and mild amusement. She didn't need him knowing she'd been up most of the night, let alone walking around the castle since dawn. Thank Merlin she had gotten dressed before leaving.

"Oh, you know. First day jitters. I went for a little walk to calm down." Hermione told him brightly, "I'll be right back, just need to grab a few things from my room." She dashed up the stairs to her dorm, thankful once again, this time because Ginny was a year younger and didn't share a room with her. The shrewd girl would have noticed her absence immediately. She nodded at Parvarti and Lavender, who were still sleepily doing their make up. Going to her trunk, she pulled out a vial of Pepper Up potion she had brewed herself over summer. She lived off the stuff now. That and coffee. How she loved her coffee. Downing it quickly, she paused to enjoy the tingling, invigorated feeling that coursed through and then grabbed her satchel and marched out, squaring her shoulders as she saw Ginny leaving her room.

"Morning Hermione!" She gushed, falling into step beside her. Together they descended into the Common Room, where both Ron and Harry were now waiting for them. Ron was half asleep on the couch, his bag resting haphazardly on his stomach. Ginny walked over and flicked him on the forehead. "Oi! Wake up, you."

"Huh? What?" He said, sitting up and looking around wildly. His eyes landed on his little sister. "What'd you do that for?"

"Come on, we're going to go eat." Harry said, grinning at his dopey best friend.

"Food?" Ron perked up immediately and Hermione rolled her eyes, suppressing a grin. Ron was so predictable. The smile that was trying to creep onto her face felt wrong, though, so she resisted it.

"Yes, moron. Now let's go!" Ginny snapped, leading the way to the door. For such a thin girl, she had a huge appetite; one that could rival her brother's on occasion.

When they reached the Great Hall and sat down, Ginny plopped down right beside her and offered her a muffin.

"Oh, no thanks, Gin. I kinda already ate." She looked over at Harry. "That's what I went to my room for, aside from my bag. Mum baked me chocolate chip cookies." She tried to make her smile look mischievous. Harry loved her Mum's cookies.

"You? Cookies for breakfast?" Ron questioned.

"Oh believe it. You've never had her Mum's cookies. Fantastic, they are." Oh, Harry. How could he possibly know? Know that he was protecting her from her own friends. Secrets upon secrets. And for what? It had been months since the incident, but the pull still ate her alive everyday. It consumed her, tearing, pressing, and pulling her in all directions and places. It plagued her every thought. When she did manage to sleep, she dreamt of him. Everywhere she turned, there were reminders. It had happened here, at Hogwarts, and she could never forget that. Never forget what it had taken from her. She didn't want to eat. She didn't want to sleep. She didn't want to _be. _Still, under Ginny's careful observation, she ate some eggs and toast. Better to calm some of her friend's suspicions then to simply let her make assumptions. It was bad enough that she was too out of it to participate in the conversation.

"Well, I need to be off. I want to get to my Advanced Potion's class early." Standing up and grabbing her satchel, she stumbled under the extreme weight.

"Whoa, you alright there?" Ginny asked, eyeing her carefully.

"Yeah, its just this damn bag. It must weigh one hundred pounds. At least." She smiled, trying to look alive and easy going. She should become a muggle actress and just leave this all behind. She'd be great, with all the practice she was getting.

"Advanced Potions? First thing? That is just freaking terrible!" Ron exclaimed, not even noticing her almost-fall.

"Isn't it though?" She laughed.

"Isn't that a 7th year class?" Harry asked.

"Yes, actually, the only other 6th years in the class are Nott, Zabini, and Malfoy. Snape's favorites. My morning ought to be great, huh?" she said sarcastically.

"Mione!" Ron practically shrieked, "You can't be in a class full of Death Eaters!"

"I'll be fine. Besides, you know they'll all fail out now that Snape's not there to favor them. They won't last the first month."

"Malfoy will." Harry said darkly, glaring over at the Slytherin table, which did not feature a pale blonde head this morning. She sighed and walked away. Let them be irritated. She'd be fine. Besides…this could prevent her from doing something crazy. Or drive her crazier. You know, typical problems of a 16-year-old witch obsessed with a 16-year-old wizard hell bent on destroying everything she stood for. The world was such a cruel place.

Hermione arrived at the Potion's classroom and was surprised to see she was not the first one there. All three Slytherins huddled together in the back, whispering over a piece of parchment. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, she walked to the last table of the middle row and sat down. Chancing a glance back at them, she saw they were all watching her.

Nott, talk, lanky, and gorgeous with messy brown hair and caramel eyes. He was pale, but not nearly so pale as Malfoy who stared at her from the middle of the group, silver eyes intense behind strands of perfect white-blonde hair. He exuded arrogance and calm authority. It irritated her and intrigued her. Damn it. Zabini was a shock of color in the fair group. Light, sunkissed skin, dark green eyes, and curly black hair. They were all gorgeous, despite the years of inbreeding she knew their families had in their extensive histories. Smart and cruel, they were Slytherins to the core. Slytherin Princes. Evil, almost. Growing Death Eaters.

"Granger." Blaise Zabini said in his deep, silky voice that made most girls swoon. It was such a cliché. Italian, gorgeous, evil, and oh yeah, he had possibly the sexiest voice on the planet. Ever. He was alluring and mysterious. They all were. They drew her in and fascinated her. There was a connection, on her side anyway.

"Zabini, Nott…Malfoy." Nott stared at her, then gave a curt nod before looking back down at the parchment. Draco just stared at her. Silver eyes locked on honey ones and something passed between them. Hermione turned, shaken once again, by a mere look from Draco Malfoy. She had felt something, had he felt it too?

Students began walking in and Professor Slughorn entered as Hermione tried to ignore the intense stares she was still receiving from the Slytherin boys. She ignored everything Slughorn was saying, she had already read the first five chapters of the textbook. Her head hurt and everything was going in and out of focus. Occasionally, she would catch a random word of what Slughorn was saying. Something about partners…partners? She forced her attention back to the Professor.

"…assigned a new partner every 3 weeks. Partners will not be gender specific. Everyone is fair game. Now, I'm going to cast a Pairing Spell. The color you glow will match the color your partner will glow."

Slughorn muttered a few quick words and Hermione felt an odd tingling sensation and raised a hand, marveling the deep, indigo color on that surrounded her skin like an aura. Everyone was glowing random colors and exclaiming as they found their match. Two 7th year girls sat together, giggling at their purple hands.

"Hello, partner." Blaise Zabini stood behind her; an indigo glow surrounding him. Somehow, it only made him seem more attractive. She groaned. "Whoa, not until the third date!" He waggled his eyebrows and flashed her a gorgeous smile.

"Too bad I'd never go on a date with you."

Blaise pressed a hand to his chest in mock hurt. "And here I was already considering wedding colors!" He sighed wistfully. "It seems we must cut this conversation short." He indicated Malfoy and Nott standing behind him, both surrounded by a fading emerald green glow. "Until we meet again, dear partner." He took her hand and pressed his lips to it. An electric jolt shot through her, magnetic and intense. She stared up at him with wide eyes, seeing the same amazed look on his face that she knew was on her own. Behind him, Nott and Malfoy too, wore shocked expressions. They hadn't felt it, had they?

"Goodbye, Hermione." Blaise let go of her hand and turned slowly, keeping eye contact with her until the last moment possible. When all three Slytherins had gone, she traced the hand he had kissed with her fingertips, ever so lightly. It burned where his lips had touched it.

"He called me Hermione…" She whispered.

"What?" She jumped at the voice. It was Draco's.

"When did you get back in here?" she asked, knowing she sounded entirely to accusing.

"I came to get my notebook. Then I heard you speak, clearly not to me though." He was staring at her curiously now, not just angrily.

"Oh, no. I was just…I don't know, thinking I suppose." She sighed, she sounded idiotic, even to herself.

"Well…okay." He turned to leave and she gathered up her things, knowing she need to leave as well, despite the Free Period she currently had. "Granger?"

"What?" She asked looking up at Malfoy once again. He was standing in the door, looking conflicted. Reluctant to leave, or reluctant to stay? Hermione couldn't tell.

"About what I said…about what's got you looking so sick… I understand… I know now." Hermione's face contorted into an expression of pure horror. "Just don't worry, you'll be through it soon. You'll have help." Then he was gone and she was gasping for breath and she could feel tears streaming down her face and she grabbed her bag and tore through the hallways until she reached a bathroom. Her stomach heaved and vomit spewed from her mouth and into the white toilet, the toast and egg's she'd eaten standing out against the porcelain. Her cries and whimpers echoed throughout the empty bathroom and she sat back, wiping her mouth and brushing hair out of her face. She shook uncontrollably.

"Are you alright?" She didn't have the strength to scream, or jump. And she didn't have the strength to deny anything when she looked up and saw Blaise bending over, offering her his hand.

"No," She glanced at his hand, still held out for her to take. "I can't."

"Okay." He said, sitting down beside her. Before she could stop him, he pulled her into his lap and cradled her their like a child, smoothing her hair back. For some reason, this made her cry harder, until sobs racked her body. "Shh, its okay. I know, trust me, I know."

"That's the problem! You know, you all know and you can't, I had to keep it a secret. Its crazy, I'm crazy!" She cried in anguish.

"How does this make you crazy?" He asked, looking slightly taken aback.

"I can't stop thinking about him! It's killing me. Awake, asleep, drunk, stoned, any time! Its madness!"

"Who? Who can't you stop thinking about?"

She looked at him with big, watery eyes. "I thought you knew…Draco… he said…"

"You talked to him? What did he say?"

"…He said he knew… that he understood, I thought it meant he had it too. Ever since what happened last year…I thought he was stuck thinking about me constantly too."

"So its Draco you can't stop thinking about?" he looked curious now, "What happened last year?"

"I thought you said you knew!"

"I thought I did….apparently not-wait! That means you don't know what I know! How can you not know?" He shook his head, confused now. "Alright, cards on the table. What do you know? Tell me and I'll tell you what I know."

"Last year, there was an…incident between Draco and I. Ever since then, he's been on my mind constantly. I dream and think about him. I can't eat, I can't sleep, hell, I can't breathe."

"We need to go right now. And you need to tell me exactly what happened during this 'incident'." He stood quickly, pulling her up with him.

"You said you'd tell me what you knew!" Hermione said angrily, staggering as bright purple and black spots filled her vision.

"Hermione! Are you okay?" Blaise steadied her.

"Yeah…just a…a head rush." And then there was nothing.


	4. Chapter 4

Blaise, Theo, and Draco sat in the Room of Requirement in quiet contemplation of the pale, unconscious girl on the couch. The room had been thought up quickly, with only a few chairs, tables, and a couch to lay Hermione on, all done by Blaise as he rushed in and summoned Draco and Theo with the coins Draco had given them over the summer. Which Hermione had originally created. Hermione, Hermione, Hermione. It all came back to Hermione and her damned secrets. No one knew what to say. She was so sick, weak and emaciated with dark circles under her eyes. How could no one have noticed? Gryffindors were supposed to be loyal, true friends. So how had they let her get this bad? Oh, she had fought hard and long to hide it, but there was only so ill a person could get without _someone_ noticing. Of course, that someone, or multiple persons anyway, had to be three Slytherins with enough serious problems on their plates as it is. Now they had a dying girl to deal with. One who apparently knew nothing about what was happening to her and was obsessed with the most stressed of the three, whether by personal madness or not, it was too much. She could die, was on the verge of death. And that tormented all three Slytherins more then they would ever admit.

"What do we do?" Theo asked, finally breaking the tense silence. He was more out of the know then the other two. In fact, all he knew was that he had felt an electric jolt, a magnetic pulling towards Hermione back in the Potion's Room when Blaise had grabbed her hand. Now though, she lay unconscious on a couch and Blaise had breathlessly related the story of his finding her in the bathroom vomiting and that she had passed out soon after standing up. Why? Who the hell knew. Who the hell knew _anything_ about this girl? For half a year, she had shut herself away, hid her every thought, feeling and emotion from the world to protect herself. All in the name of hiding an obsession that likely wasn't even her fault. The saddest part was, she had no idea who she was. Who she could. Who she would become. They would make sure of it now. Worse still, they had no choice but to report it to the Dark Lord, lest he should hear it in their minds, doubt their loyalty, and end their lives.

"She needs a Healer, that much is painfully obvious." There was a slight tone of disgust in Draco voice, but there was concern in his silver eyes as they examined her, over and over again. Barely distinguishable, it gave the Ice Prince a more human angle, but only to those who could see it. And not many could. "You have training right?"

"Yes, but for this? I'm not so sure." Theo replied uneasily, "I specialize in Dark Curses, Wounds, and Infections." They knew this already. He was one of three healers-in-training for the Young Death Eaters. "To be perfectly honest, from just looking at her I would say she only needs a Healer to monitor her recovery. For a recovery she just needs to eat something and get some sleep, which she's doing now. Though I doubt she's going to feel well rested when she wakes. She'll probably have a serious bitch of a headache."

"Its not just food and sleep though. I think she's been cursed." Blaise said quietly, staring at the floor.

"What?" Draco looked finally looked up from Hermione, "How do you mean?"

"I mean that what's got her slowly killing herself isn't what we think it is, its you mate. She's obsessed, can't get you out of her head. She said something about an incident last year, something between the two of you, but she passed out before she could tell me." As Blaise spoke, Draco's expression grew darker and darker.

"She was going to tell you? About what happened last year?"

"I don't know." Blaise shook his head. "What happened last year?"

"Nothing."

"Doesn't sound like nothing." Theo pointed out.

"Yeah, it has her like this and its clearly affecting you too."

"So what is it?"

"Leave it alone!" Draco growled, glaring at his best friends.

"You're going to have to tell me, at least, eventually." Theo said, "I need to know if you expect me to Heal her…or whatever it is we're planning on doing."

"Which means you might as well tell me, cause I am a right bastard when kept out of a loop I clearly belong."

"Oh trust me, I know." Draco said scathingly. "Wait, you said she doesn't know. How the fuck doesn't she know? Of all the things not to know about yourself, this? It's way too obvious. Especially to someone as smart as she is."

"With you in her head, its obvious she hasn't been able to focus on much of anything." Theo said, feeling a touch of pity for the girl.

"I do have that affect on women." Draco smirked.

"Knock that shit off, you dolt." Blaise snapped, smacking him in the back of the head. "This is serious, much bigger then your ego."

"It's a pretty big ego…" Draco's smirk widened.

"That's not what Bellatrix said." Theo laughed at Draco's disgusted expression.

"I would never fuck Aunt Bella!"

"Really? I always thought she was kinda hot… you know, once you get past the slight insanity." Blaise said, making Theo laugh harder.

"Ugh…to hell with the both of you!"

"Can we take Bellatrix and your mom with us?"

"Fuck you, Zabini."

"I'm too busy with your mother. Maybe next Tuesday, after my one o'clock appointment with your aunt." Theo and Blaise roared with laughter.

"Is there such a thing as too far with you two?"

"Nope."

"Never." They grinned identically.

"You need to loosen up, mate." Theo told him, "I know you're stressed, but you haven't really laughed in months."

"Stressed?" Draco laughed mirthlessly. "Oh, I am beyond stressed! Nothing has really been asked of the two of you yet, but let me tell you, when something is? You'll find out why so many people just don't come back. With all the pressure, the actual realization of what we're trying to do, most people just off themselves. Few can actually manage to participate in a massacre, a revel, genocide. Even fewer take pleasure in it. But a great many take the easy way out." He shuddered, "With what I've been asked to do… sometimes it seems like a good idea. Something holds me back."

"Well don't." Blaise said. "Just…don't. Okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Back to the matter at hand." Theo said abruptly, shattering the awkward tension that had begun to fill the room.

"We need to find out why she's obsessed with me. Now." Draco demanded, "I don't have the time or the patience to deal with this. I have more important things to do."

Theo winced, knowing his next statement wouldn't cause a good reaction. "It will be two until we can scan her… at the earliest."

Draco's eyes turned from silver to stormy gray and he shot out of his chair, pacing angrily. "Two fucking weeks? Tell me this is a joke! Why two weeks?"

"She's too weak. A scan for Dark Magic leaves a healthy person drained. With her…" He trailed off, gesturing helplessly at her still form. "It could mean death. She's hardly got any strength to draw on."

"Can't you just…I don't know, draw the energy from yourself? You'll be the one casting the spell." Draco asked, still pacing back in forth of his chair.

"It doesn't work like that. Dark Magic is designed to harm a person, so it was made that if a person was scanned for it, it would weaken and hopefully kill the afflicted person, since that's what the person who cast the Dark Spell was most likely aiming for in the first place."

"Damn it…don't have time for this shit." Draco muttered.

Blaise ignored the two of them as they began throwing ideas back and forth, and focused on Hermione. Gaunt and unconscious, he didn't know how the other two could not stare at her. She was pretty, he realized after several moments of intense scrutiny, and when she was healthy, probably gorgeous. She had grown up over summer, in more ways then just learning how to disguise her thoughts and feelings. Closing his eyes, Blaise silently requested a bowl of broth and a cup of water from the room. Taking the tray from the table it had appeared on, Blaise sat down by Hermione and lifted the cup of water to her lips. "Hermione…I don't know if you can hear me, but I need you to swallow this." He poured a little of the cool liquid into her mouth, "Come on. Just swallow it, please." He allowed himself a small smile when she complied. Whether it be because of his urging, or a natural instinct, he didn't know. He was just glad she hadn't choked. After a few more sips of water, he placed the cup back on the tray and picked up the bowl of broth. "Alright, now this is going to be a little different, but just try and swallow it too. It will make you feel better." He ladled some broth up and placed the silver spoon to her lips, trickling the warm, brown liquid into her mouth just as he had done with the water. He had no idea how long he'd been sitting there, alternately giving her small mouthfuls of broth and water. Finally, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Enough, Blaise. You'll make her sick." Theo said, watching him curiously.

"Right… where's Draco?" He asked, just noticing his best friends absence.

"He left about ten minutes ago. Said something about not having time to spoon feed mudbloods."

"What, with his busy schedule of murdering Headmasters and all." Blaise rolled his eyes.

"You mean _trying _to murder Headmasters. His hearts not in it. Despite all the nasty shit he's always had to say about Dumbledore, he doesn't want to kill him. I wouldn't either." Theo explained.

"Yeah, but you're a Healer. It's in your nature to be compassionate. Draco's the_ highest-ranking _young Death Eater in the Dark Lord's army. Which puts him at a higher level then even some of the adults. He's supposed to be a cold-blooded killer. Guess breeding isn't everything, is it? Nothing like his parents, he is." Blaise said, leaving Hermione's side.

"Not like Lucius, anyway. Narcissa, well that's another story."

"A damn long one too."

"Enough about Draco, what about her?" Theo asked.

"For now… just try and make sure she eats."

"Why?" Theo's tone was abruptly cold, uncaring. "Why are we doing this? She's a Gryffindor. We're Slytherins. Enemies for centuries." His voice took on a gentler tone. "It just doesn't make sense, does it? Who's to say that when she wakes up, she'll even want our help?"

Blaise studied him for a moment, face more serious then it had been in years. "I don't know what you felt earlier today, in the Potion's Lab, but I know what I did. A pull. Towards her. And I know you felt it too." Theo's look of irritation confirmed Blaise's thoughts. "I intend to find out why. I know you want to know too. Why wouldn't you? Especially considering what we know about her. Or at least, what we think we know about her. Cards on the table. She's obsessed with Draco, whether by her own insanity, or some Dark Curse, who the hell knows at this point. We know she's about as damn weak as a person can be without dying, but we don't know if she's doing it on purpose, or if it's the curse…that we don't know actually exists at this point. And finally, the most ridiculous part of this whole thing? She doesn't know…" He glanced uneasily at her, unsure if she was still asleep or not. He did not want to be the bearer of _that_ news. "She doesn't know what we think we know. And we don't know why she doesn't know something so hugely important."

"How's that for irony? For everything we know, there's something we don't know. If there is someone behind all this, they're a damned genius. And they clearly put a lot of thought into it. But why her? To be perfectly honest, she's never really done anything other then be her normal smart self and be proud of it. Is that really enough to piss someone off this badly?" Theo shook his head when at Blaise look incredulity, "I mean, someone powerful enough to pull this off wouldn't be that petty, correct?"

"Right. It just feels like there's something bigger going on. Bigger then all of us." He paused, "Something to do with her."

"Something to do with who?" A tired voice asked. Hermione was awake.

"Morning Sunshine." Blaise grinned at her.

"Why does my mouth taste weird?" She asked, blinking groggily at them.

"Well… you puked. And then I fed you broth and water. Which I'm sure those don't taste very well when combined." He told her, still smiling amiably. Theo was staring at him like he'd grown a second head.

"You fed me?" Her voice was sharp as she sat up to stare icily at them both.

"You needed it." Theo snapped.

"I was fine. Now I'm going to feel horrible for days." She protested, crossing her arms.

"Oh yeah, because I'm sure you felt so great before. Half dead, barely able to move. Must have been great." Theo growled at her, "Are you insane? You. Are. Dying! By choice. In what fucking way, shape, or form is that okay?"

"Why the hell do you care?" Hermione yelled back, equally as angry. They had messed everything up. Everything. And now she didn't know what to do. They knew. No one was supposed to know. It was her secret.

Theo started to respond, but Blaise interrupted him. "Enough! Both of you. Theo, lay off. Hermione…fuck! I hate to say it but he's right. This isn't okay."

"Why do you care?" She repeated, glaring at them defiantly.

"You know why." He told her, steadily returning her harsh gaze.

"No, I do not." She took a deep breath. "How did you find me in the bathroom?"

"I felt…a pull again."

"Like in the Potion's Lab?" She asked.

"Yes, but stronger. I knew you needed help."

"I felt it too." Theo interjected. "I just didn't know what it was."

"Why didn- shit!" Blaise cut off, plunging his hand into his pocket and pulling at the coin that now glowed cherry red. It read clearly across the bright hot surface:

WE'VE BEEN SUMMONED.

"Fuck it all." Both Slytherins turned to Hermione, who stared at them silently, large eyes frightened.


	5. Chapter 5

Doing his best to ignore Hermione's horrified stare, Blaise pulled out his wand and tapped the now cool coin in his hand to reply to Draco.

ROR. NOW!

"Are you planning on doing what I think you are?" Theo asked quietly, glancing at Hermione. She was making them both nervous. They had no idea whether or not she was about to start freaking out, or just calmly accept the whole thing as something everyone else had predicted long ago. The Magical World expected them to become Death Eaters. As the children of well-known Death Eaters, what other future could they possibly have? It was a bitter reality.

"They're not going to hurt her. If anything, they'll want to help her." Blaise paused, noting Hermione's expression slowly changing from horrified to curious.

"So we tell them." Theo stated simply.

"Yes. It's really the only and best option at this point. They might even know who… you know." Blaise sighed, irritated. If only she could just pass out again. Then they wouldn't have to worry about her overhearing things she wasn't ready to hear. This was getting more tedious and stressing by the moment. "For now, just wait for Draco."

It didn't take him long to arrive, out of breath and with an air of barely contained fury. He didn't want to have to deal with Hermione and definitely wasn't expecting a confrontation with her so soon. He stopped short when he saw her, awake and staring at him in shock.

"You're awake."

"Yes." Her head was spinning. Here he was, right in front of her. It filled her with a sleepy satisfaction, contentment only his presence could bring. And he knew it, too. That was the sick part.

"Got something on your mind?" He quirked an eyebrow at her strange expression, which was oddly happy, but horrified at the same time.

"Yes. I was thinking about how shocking it is that you're actually a Death Eater."

"Yes, we all are." Blaise said, "Sorry to interrupt what I'm sure is about to become an incredibly entertaining and insulting conversation, but we have a lot of serious problems that need to be dealt with. One being that we can't speak openly with her here."

"So get rid of her." Draco said, "Its not like we need her for anything. Or were you planning on giving her dessert before we left?"

"Funny, really funny, mate." Blaise snarled, "Sorry for having a heart."

"You're a Slytherin, _mate_. We don't get to have hearts, or souls. What we do get is a meeting with the Dark Lord in 30 minutes. Which means we need to leave in the next 15 minutes to be there on time."

"You can't leave!" Hermione snapped, "The castle is protected by Wards. No one goes in or out undetected."

"We do." Draco spat, eyeing her distastefully.

"So full of yourself, it's really fucking annoying, you know that?" She said, though the venom in her words didn't match the radiant look on her face. She looked oddly happy, sitting here with three of her supposed enemies. The horror of them knowing about her secret was being washed away by his presence.

"You like it." Draco said, grinning wickedly. "You like _me._"

Hermione breathed in sharply, eyes going wide.

"Draco…" Blaise cautioned.

"No, we should just get this out in the open now. You're obsessed with me. Don't deny it Princess, who knows, it may not be your fault. You could have been cursed. Or, like so many other women, it could just be my charm."

"Sometimes I think you have multiple personalities." Hermione whispered, staring at the floor with empty eyes. All her previous happiness was gone. "One moment, the stressed victim of Pureblood society. The next, an arrogant aristocrat, ready to insult anyone you believe to be beneath you. And then… just malevolence, not a victim, but still not quite evil enough to be a true follower of Voldemort."

Stunned silence. "So who are you really, Draco?"

The grin returned. "Anyone I want to be."

A faint smile touched Hermione's lips. "How interesting."

"Um… if you two are done?" Blaise asked, "Right. We need a game plan."

"We can't form a plan in front of her." Theo pointed out.

"But we can't leave her alone."

"Theo, you stay with her." Draco said. "Keep her here. I'll alert Snape. He wants to help me? Fine. I'll use him for my own purposes. Blaise and I will go and report on what's going on here."

"And I'm just supposed to stay here? And wait? What will they think?" Theo asked, worried. He didn't want the Dark Lord, or his parent's wrath turned on him.

"I'll let you view everything through my mind when we return. I'll provide an adequate cover story, but we need to go." Draco looked around nervously, as though Death Eaters were about to surround them. He and Blaise made their way to the door quickly, but Hermione called out before they could fully exit the Room of Requirement.

"Blaise? You won't tell them about me, will you?" Blaise's heart constricted. Damn it. Draco was right. Slytherins aren't meant to have hearts, or souls. No compassion, no feelings. Just cold cunning and the will to do anything to survive. So why did this sickly little Gryffindor, obsessed with his best friend, affect him so much that he felt at moments that he did have a compassionate nature? Theo was understandable, he was a Healer and she was sick. Draco showed no outward affection towards her. So whom did he emulate? Draco, obviously. He was no Healer. He had no excuse.

"Of course not. It would likely get us all killed." Draco sneered. Blaise had never been so thankful for his friend's nasty attitude and willingness to lie before in his life. Avoiding looking at Hermione again, he followed Draco out.

* * *

><p><strong>Malfoy Manor: <strong>

Draco and Blaise strode side by side into the Manor, ignoring the hissing portraits on either side of them. Peter Pettigrew waited in the foyer. With a smile that was more of a hideous grimace then a welcome, he gestured for them to follow him. Draco quickly concluded they were going to the East Parlor, having walked these dark hallways for 16 years. Death Eaters stood in clusters throughout his beautiful home, polluting it. It was no secret that the Dark Lord's followers were either Pureblood aristocrats, or lowly Wizards and Witches looking for glory, or a purpose, perhaps both. It didn't matter to Draco. He simply didn't want them in his house. As they approached he Parlor, a chill descended over them; more then the usual draft that accompanied life in the centuries-old manor. Even from behind closed doors the Dark Lord's presence could be felt, spreading terror and discomfort throughout the Manor, plaguing its inhabitants.

"You are to enter immediately." Pettigrew said as they approached the dark wooden doors. "He is waiting for you."

Draco and Blaise both nodded curtly at the stout, foul man and swiftly walked to the doors, exchanging a nervous glance before opening them.

"Welcome, Draco and Blaise." The Dark Lord's voice hissed, carrying softly across the room. The doors shut behind them and they both knelt down. "Rise and come closer. I sense you bring news."

Sense, my ass, Draco wanted to say. He was probably examining Blaise's mind. He wasn't nearly as good an Occlumens as Draco, but he could still cover memories and thoughts. It was emotions that he could hide well.

"Yes, my Lord." Draco said, taking ten carefully measured steps forward, Blaise doing the same. They stood tall and straight, but neither looked their Lord directly in the eye. "My mission goes slowly, Dumbledore is shrew, unfortunately and is often absent from the castle. However, we may have discovered something more important."

"Oh, and what would that be?" Draco fought to keep shivers from running down his spine. The Dark Lord's voice was a curious thing, soft and yet so loud, it gave the bravest men pause.

"A hidden Pureblood child, in the form of Potter's best friend, the supposed mudblood, Hermione Granger." The Dark Lord's red eyes went abnormally wide.

"She has no idea. We think who ever is concealing her identity has cursed her." Blaise added, noting his Master's intrigued expression. Lord Voldemort did not speak for what seemed like an endless amount of time. He alternated between staring at them carefully and looking thoughtfully around the room. Both Draco and Blaise pushed what they believed to be safe memories of Granger's true identity forward, as well as a set of memories displaying her ignorance of the fact.

Finally, he spoke. "Young master Malfoy, do you know why your father is being punished?"

"For failing to capture Harry Potter in the Department of Mysteries, my Lord."

"Ah yes, this was the public's assumption, as well as the assumption of many of my followers. It was not his actual assignment. His assignment was to cast the spell that would identify and release the hidden Pureblood child from his or her concealment. When the time came, he missed at every chance. He failed to aid a fellow, suffering Pureblood." The Dark Lord sneered.

Draco simply stared in shock. They knew that there existed a Pureblood child, hidden from her true family. They just hadn't known who.

"It would be best to allow Bella to explain this to you. She has the most knowledge of what happened." The Dark Lord gestured for them to leave. Without a word, they did as he bade. When the doors shut behind them, Blaise turned to Draco.

"Where can we find your Aunt?"

"Only one way to find out," Draco replied.

"The tapestry in the hidden study?" Blaise asked.

"Of course."

"That's a long bloody walk." Blaise complained, remembering the days in his childhood when they'd rush through the long, hidden passageway to spy on the Manor's inhabitants.

"You're getting old."

"I'm sixteen, mate."

"But it's been a lifetime since we were young." Draco said dryly, giving Blaise a sardonic smile.

"And that is too damn true. We never stopped in to tell Snape about Theo and Hermione."

"So its Hermione now, is it?" His smile was gone. He was staring at Blaise accusingly, like it was some sort of crime. Blaise supposed to Draco, it was. He didn't want to deal with this, but the Dark Lord knew and wanted them to speak with Bellatrix. He had no choice.

"Shut up. How're we going to cover this up?"

"I gave Snape a coin. Give me a moment." Draco pulled out his wand and his gold coin, tapping it and thinking of his message and nothing else, tapped it.

ROR. THINK OF THEO NOTT.

"There, all set. Let's be off."

"You know, this house is a lot creepier then it used to be." Blaise commented, staring at the portraits on the wall that stared at them from the walls and whispered to each other.

"Don't remind me."

* * *

><p><strong>Defense Against The Da<strong>**rk Arts Professor's Office: **

Severus Snape sneered disdainfully at a questionnaire he had given to his fourth year class to start off the year. Imbeciles. They wouldn't last in this war if they didn't learn that Defense was a necessary risk. You couldn't count on the adults in your life to protect, not when they were having Dark Curses hurled at them.

He had asked the question:

What is the best way to protect yourself in the event of isolated attack by a Dark Wizard?

To which the student answered:

Run and get help, attempting to block any spells.

Isolated, that had been the key word. You are alone with a Dark Wizard, there is a large chance you won't be able to block the spells used against you, let alone run. This was Dolores Umbridge's teaching, no doubt. Not a single student had mentioned the idea of trying to disarm their opponent, a fairly basic spell. Disgusting. How were they expected to _defend_ themselves?

His pocket burned, startling him. Reaching in, his hand closed around a hot, round object. The coin Draco had given him. Glowing red, it read:

ROR. THINK OF THEO NOTT.

He wanted to roll his eyes. Day one, and those boys were already in over their heads. Of course, Draco had been in over his head since the end of last year, but he didn't need to drag Nott into it as well. The Dark Lord would not be pleased. If Nott was involved, it was likely Zabini was too. Just wonderful. With a swish of black robes, he set out, wondering what the hell they had managed to mess up so soon.

Outside the Room of Requirement, Draco's new preferred haunt, he focused, thinking of Theodore Nott. A door quickly appeared. Glancing around to assure he was not followed and seeing no one, he opened the door, stepped inside, and shut the door behind him.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw there.

* * *

><p><strong>Room of Requirement: <strong>

Hermione glanced uneasily at Nott, wondering why he had been chosen to stay behind. She would have taken Draco's staying gladly.

"I don't understand you." He told her.

"What about me?" She replied, wondering how this boy could possibly think he could understand her.

"For someone who claims to be obsessed with Draco, you had barely any reaction to him."

"Ah…well I've had lots of practice covering it up." Of course, that would be what he would wonder about and try to understand. She had shown no reaction to his best friend, whom she was supposedly obsessed with. In truth, her mind had been reeling the whole time. Every fiber of her being had enjoyed their short exchange. Tingles had shot through her, making her want to reach out and touch him, but their was no way she would ever give in to that urge. He'd likely kill her. "I can't exactly faint every time I am near him, can I? Or stare at him, admiring the most perfect thing I've ever seen." She blushed at this; she hadn't meant to say that part aloud. "All I can do is try to get him to talk to me, insult me if need be. His voice enthralls me." No point in trying to hide it now. Nott was staring at her like she was crazy. "I'm not crazy."

"Really? Because you definitely sound like it." He laughed, knowing it wasn't necessarily his fault.

"Where did they go, anyway?" She asked, attempting to change the subject.

"Malfoy Manor, to report to the Dark Lord." The wondered how that was going, what they had said about him not being there. If they had told him about Granger.

"You… and you're all Death Eaters?" Her voice shook as she asked the question. Strange how a girl who had battled Death Eaters fearlessly before should speak of them that way.

"We haven't taken the Dark Mark, but we are in the Dark Lord's service." He replied calmly.

"By choice?"

"Not necessarily."

"Then why don't you switch sides? Seek protection. The Order would give it to you. You'd be safe!" She exclaimed.

"Don't try to convert me, Granger." He sneered, just as the door opened. Despite his general disdain for the girl, he jumped in front of her. "Do you have your wand?"

"There's no need." Snape said, staring at them incredulously. "Nott, Granger, what the hell is going on here?"

"_That_ professor is a very long story." Theo said, plopping down into an armchair.

**Damn, I am just on a roll right now. I have this story pretty much completely planned out, though, like with all stories, the plot will probably change a few times before the story's conclusion. Especially since this story has already taken some twists seriously different from what I originally had planned. Thanks for reading, please review. **


	6. Chapter 6

"What?" Bellatrix snapped the second she yanked open her door. "Draco, Blaise. What do you want?"

"The Dark Lord sent us." Draco informed her, not bothered by her rude manner. She was his aunt, he knew her well and the crazy bitch act was just that. An act. She really wasn't that bad. If you were family, that is.

Her entire expression changed from pissed off to serious and slightly excited. "Come in." She led them into her room, allowing them to sit on her black couch and seated herself across from them in a matching armchair. "Now, what is it that Dark Lord sent you here to do?"

"Apparently you have information that could be of use to us." Blaise said, slightly nervous. Despite his earlier banter with Theo, the powerful witch scared the hell out of him.

"Oh?" Bellatrix arched one fine, black eyebrow, "What could I possibly know that the Dark Lord doesn't?"

"Well, it isn't that he doesn't know. Its just that you know the story better, according to he Dark Lord, anyway." This peaked her interest.

"Well, get on with it then!"

"We identified a hidden Pureblood child. A girl, age sixteen and complete unknowing of her heritage." Draco said, though he never could have anticipated her reaction.

Bella's face took on a sad expression of pure loss mixed oddly with hope. "You found her?"

"Who? We found out that Hermione Granger, well-known best friend of Harry Potter, is actually a Pureblood. Though how, we don't know. We were hoping you could tell us."

"Sweet Salazar, how could I have missed it? She was right there, so very close in the Department of Mysteries. She looks just like… holy hell." Bella whispered more to herself then to Blaise and Draco.

"Who have we found?" Draco pressed, startled. He had never seen such a soft vulnerability in his aunt before.

"My goddaughter." Bella said, looking up at them with shining eyes. "Sixteen years ago, my best friend was murdered in one of the attacks that would start the First Wizard War. Christina Prewitt was her name. No one knew who the father of the child was, or where she ended up. It was one of the most tragic losses in Pureblood society and is rarely spoken of. It happened at Hogwarts, where we thought we would be safe at the end of her pregnancy…"

"Christina was incredibly gifted. Smart, cunning, and powerful. A true Pureblood. She was also my best friend, practically my sister. During the summer before our seventh year, she came to me, weeping and told me she was pregnant. I begged her to tell me who the father was, but she refused. For the next nine months, we went about our seventh year as normally as possible and doing our best to hide her condition. Sadly, in the end of her eighth month of pregnancy, the war officially began. A huge battle took place at Hogwarts. The stress caused her to go into premature labor." Small tears traced their way down Bella's pale face. "I stayed with her, delivering the baby myself. I handed that beautiful baby girl to Christina as the battle raged around us. Your parents, Draco, and yours, Blaise fought to try and protect Christina and the baby. They couldn't hold back the onslaught of wizards and witches that came after us. Someone cast Sectumsempra. It caught Christina in the stomach, slashing one of the baby's ankles as well. Christina screamed at me to take the baby and run, that I was her godmother and I had to do everything in my power to protect her daughter. I never stood a chance. Frank and Alice Longbottom cornered me and took the baby. I've always believed that they had specific orders to get her, because they left me broken and screaming for Christina and the baby on the ground. Years later, I found those foul people who took her and I tortured them with all the fury and despair that had been in me since that day that I failed my best friend and her newborn daughter. I have never forgiven myself."

No one spoke. Bella sobbed, shoulders shaking violently as she relived her tormented past. Blaise and Draco looked at her with new eyes. Finally, an explanation for the way Bellatrix Lestrange was and why she always fought with such a mad fury against the Order of the Phoenix. She looked up suddenly, face streaked with salty wet tracks and eyes glowing with desperation.

"You have to find out if its her. Her ankle… no magic, no glamour can cover up the scars of Dark Magic. The scar will be there. If it is, I want her brought here, to me. I want to see her. Know her. Tell her of her mother and everyone who fought so hard for her. Explain to her why we haven't been there for her throughout her life. Explain to her why _I _haven't been there."

"There's more…" Blaise trailed off unsure. Draco nodded, indicating it was okay to continue. "She's sick. We think she's been cursed. She's…"

"Go on." Bella demanded.

"She's obsessed with me." Draco finished for Blaise, "She's weak and emaciated. She won't eat and she can't sleep. Someone's cursed her to have thoughts of me plague her."

Bella's expression changed from sadness to one of the utmost fury. "We're going to get her. Now."

"We cannot, Dear Bella." The Dark Lord hissed from the doorway, startling all of them. No one had heard him approach.

"My Lord! I beg you-!" He held up a hand, silencing her.

"This is a delicate matter. We must first identify the girl and then see what it is that causes her to obsess over young Mr. Malfoy before we can proceed. Then, we must get her healthy and attempt to break the curse. This will take much time and energy, especially on the part of Blaise, Draco, and Theodore. I take it Theodore stayed with the girl?" Draco and Blaise nodded in confirmation. "Good, he can monitor her health. We may have a chance to bring this poor, young girl back to her family where she belongs. Now, Draco, Blaise you must return to Hogwarts. It is, after all, only your first day. Draco, your previous mission is no longer a concern. Focus on the girl from now on." Draco bit back his protests as the Dark Lord handed them a cork, or, more accurately, a Portkey. The second it touched his hand, it began to glow blue and Blaise's hand shot out, placing a finger on the top of it.

"You keep her safe, boys!" Bellatrix shrieked, just as they both felt a jerk behind their navels.

* * *

><p><strong>Room of Requirement: <strong>

"Well, you best get started then! You do realize you missed an entire day of classes, right? If this didn't seem to be such a precarious matter, I'd simply send you off to the Headmaster right now. As it is… just tell me what is happening and I will try to make some sense of it all." Snape sighed, shaking his greasy black head.

"You see Professor…" Theo took a deep breath, unsure of how to continue.

"Its my fault." Hermione said, "Ever since the incident between Draco and I last year, I've been somewhat…obsessed with him. It came on so suddenly, one night I had a dream of him that woke me up shrieking. Then he was on my mind all the next day and so on."

"When you say incident, I assume you refer to the on between yourself and my godson the day he captured you for Dolores Umbridge, correct?" Snape asked.

Hermione blushed and nodded. "Who told you, Professor, if you don't mind me asking?"

"The Headmaster informed me."

"Of course."

"That explains your lack of sleep. It does not, however, explain why you are starving yourself, nor why there are several scars marring your forearms." Snape told her curtly.

Hermione pressed her lips together in a thin line and something stirred in her tired eyes, but both were gone as quickly as they had come. Her expression was carefully blank, but her voice held raw pain when she spoke. "When you suddenly lose control of your own mind, its nice to have something you can control. And it's nice to be able to feel, everyone once in a while. You have to understand, I don't want this! He _hates _me and I have no choice but to love him and its killing me to know he'll never think I'm good enough for him, never think I'm pretty enough for him, never skinny enough, never, ever _pure _enough." She shook and one small tear traced a wet path down her left cheek. She was begging them to understand, pleading for their help in the only way she could. The part that wanted Draco forever and always, no matter how impossible it was, demanded that she speak of her love for him and nothing else. But the small part of her that was still free begged to be released, to know that she wasn't condemned to a lifetime of pining for someone who would laugh in her face every time she couldn't help but say what was always, always in her mind, whether she wished it, or not.

"Well that was just touching." Draco said from where he leaned up against the wall by the doorway. Blaise was by his side, staring at Hermione pityingly.

Of its own accord, Hermione's face lit up at the site of Draco. "Hello, Draco." All of her previous thoughts and feelings were gone. There was only him, so close she could run over and touch him if she knew he'd allow it.

"Evening, Princess." He grinned icily at her. Dark Lord's orders or not, he would never care, so why pretend?

"Draco, Blaise. Take a seat. We need to bring this matter to a close for the night and do it quickly." Snape said, glaring at Draco. It was his opinion that the girl had been cursed. There was no other explanation for her erratic behavior, her ridiculous reaction to Draco.

"Of course, but first, Granger? Let me see your ankles." Draco said, kneeling down beside Hermione, who immediately gave him access to her legs. On her right ankle, a thick white scar wrapped around like an anklet. Draco could feel the taint of Dark Magic coming off of it.

"Son of a bitch." Draco muttered.

"Miss Granger, tell me you did not do that…" Snape said uneasily, looking at the nasty scar. He could feel he Dark Magic radiating from it, as well and knew she would have to be truly insane to do such a thing to herself. It would never go away and barely fade throughout her life.

"No, I've had that for as long as I could remember." She said, staring in awe at Draco's hand on her leg. Tingles were shooting through her and she longed to place her hand atop of his just as she had done last night in the hallway when he'd been choking her. As if sensing her rapture, Draco dropped her ankle, a disgusted look on his face. Hermione pushed back the hurt feelings that stemmed from his rejection. No use in protesting it, she knew how he felt about her. It didn't mean it didn't hurt terribly. Still, she stared at him with a small smile.

Doing his best to ignore her, Draco turned to Snape. "I trust you've thought of an adequate excuse for why we all missed our first fucking day of classes."

Snape's irritated expression turned into one of dark amusement. "Of course. The four of you will be taking an extra Defense course with me, twice a week. I spent the entire day interviewing and testing all of you both separately and together to see if you could handle it. You can."

Blaise groaned. Theo dropped his head into his hands, exhaling loudly. Hermione's mouth dropped. Draco simply glared at his godfather before turning his wrath on his least favorite person in the room.

"Granger, what the hell have I told you about having your mouth hang open like that." Her mouth immediately snapped shut.

"There will be no protests, whatsoever. You got yourselves into this mess; I am getting to you out. See to it that you are in my office every Monday and Friday night at 7 to train. I will owl all your teachers the information tonight and you should have no problems tomorrow. I trust you can get yourselves to bed without any other incidents." He stood and swept out of the room, having made short work of their ridiculous amount of problems.

They all sat there for a few moments, mulling over the nights events. Finally, Blaise spoke. "We need to go to bed. It's late. And Hermione…well you could use the rest."

"I think I'll sleep here tonight. I feel…safe." She told them.

"Someone should stay with her." Draco said, startling everyone.

"I'll do it." Blaise volunteered. "Theo, you need to talk to Draco. Besides, you already stayed with her once and there's no way Draco will do it, even if it was his idea."

"Good point. Let's go." Draco smirked and turned to leave. "Night-y night, Zabini."

"Don't be a prat, Drake." Blaise snarled.

"Come on," Theo gave Draco a little push towards the door just as Hermione, unable to help herself, called out,

"Goodnight, Draco."

He rolled his eyes. "Goodnight, Princess."

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><p><strong>And that's all she wrote…for now. I'll probably be back at my laptop in fifteen minutes typing away again. A shit-ton of readers and no reviews? Sad day, at least let me know how I'm doing! Don't worry, though. It won't discourage me. This is way too therapeutic a story for me to stop writing it. I'm definitely drawing off of personal experience with a lot of this (pffft I chill with sexy Slytherins and the Dark Lord like, ALL the freakin time…no seriously.) Anyway, I've never been one to beg for reviews or threaten to not write until I got a certain number of them because writing is just too fun for me. So thanks for reading, I guess. Also, check out my old profile, Seleen, which I stupidly locked myself out of! I'll probably be reposting and editing a lot of the stuff on there to this new account sometime in the future. Which, for me, 'in the future' means like sometimes next fall… All well, it'll happen. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this ridiculous babbling excuse for an author's note… R&amp;R-<strong>

**Seleen. **


	7. Chapter 7

Blaise rubbed his eyes as he sat in the Room of Requirement, waiting for Theo or Draco to drag Hermione in kicking and screaming. For the last two weeks, she had fought them persistently, resisting their every attempt to get her healthy enough to survive the Dark Magic examination. Whether it was because she simply didn't want to be healthy, or some affect of the supposed Curse, or both, she was making their lives hell. Especially when Draco was involved. Hermione either spent the entire time staring at him dreamily, or picking fights with him, which he happily engaged in. His attitude towards her had hardly changed since discovering that she was not only Pureblood, but also his Aunt's goddaughter. Theo was always polite to her, kind even, but that was probably just his Healer's nature. Blaise, on the other hand, had developed a sort of affection for the girl, if not a serious amount of concern. Just last week, they had gotten her weight. 86.4. Not healthy, at all. And if she lost any more weight, deadly. She looked like she could fly away at any moment.

"I told you, I'm not hungry!" Hermione protested as she was shoved through the door.

"Well, you're going to eat. Deal with it." Draco snapped coldly, giving her another push. She stumbled forward, glaring at Blaise.

"Tell him I don't have to eat. I ate lunch. I'm good for today." She whined, wrapping arms around herself. Despite the nice weather, she was wearing a heavy sweater and thick woolen socks.

"If you call half a salad and some pudding lunch." Draco scoffed, "Christ Granger, you should want to eat. Your ribs stick out."

"He's right, Hermione. Just sit down." He point to the small table they forced her to eat at everyday. She hated that table, hated it with a passion. Every day she stared at the cold, hard wood as they stood around her, ensuring she ate everything they set in front of her.

"I don't want to." She snapped.

"Yeah? Well I don't want to have to deal with your skinny ass obsessing over me for the rest of the year, so eat your goddamn meal and then let Theo examine you so we can all go." Draco snapped back, hitting her where he knew it would seriously hurt. These were his methods, insult her with her illness and obsession until she caved, unable to bear his disdain for her and willing to do anything to lessen it.

"What makes you think I care?" Hermione said, pulling her arms around her tighter.

Draco leaned down and whispered, "Oh Granger, I know you care. You care about me. About every thing I do. So please, just go with this until we know what's wrong with you and then, we'll leave you alone." He brushed a piece of hair back from her face. "Okay?" She nodded dumbly, reveling in his touch. Quietly, she went to the table and sat down, placing her napkin in her lap primly.

Glaring at Draco's low tactics, Blaise went over to Hermione and thought of a light, healthy meal she wouldn't resent too much. Chicken, vegetables, and a baked potato. The baked potato was sketchy, he knew, but he loved the sight of a nice, loaded baked potato. Hermione frowned at the plate, but picked up her fork and started eating. She was only a few bites in when Theo entered.

"Good, you're eating." He said with a half smile. "I've told Snape that tonight _might_ be the night we get some answers. He's ready for us when she's done eating."

"I'm done, we can go now," Hermione said, standing up even though her plate was barely half empty.

"Sit down." Draco growled. "Tonight better be the night. I'm sick of force feeding her."

"No ones making you." Hermione pointed out.

"Oh? So I should just let you obsess over me?" Hermione looked down at the table. Blaise felt a pang of sympathy; she looked miserable and ashamed. The room fell silent as Hermione continued to eat with her head down, taking the smallest bites possible and chewing each one with care. After two spoonfuls of potato, she looked up.

"I'm not finishing this," She gave Blaise a dirty look.

"Its fine, that should be enough for tonight." Theo told her, pulling out his wand.

"At least she's finally eating solids." Draco sneered.

"Stand up, Hermione." She got to her feet and Theo flicked his wand at her. Her body became heavy and a warm feeling washed over her. Next to her, numbers appeared in neat, block print.

91.2

"Not bad." Theo noted scribbling it down on a bit of parchment he had procured from the magical room. Several other spells checked her vitals and soon Theo was frowning again. "We have a problem."

"Oh great. What is it?" Draco asked, getting more irritated as each moment passed.

"Her blood sugar is low. We should've taken that into consideration when coming up with her meals." His frown deepened.

"So what do we do?" Blaise asked, frowning alongside Theo.

"Shove a goddamn Licorice Wand down her throat and drag over to Snape." Draco snapped.

"That won't be enough. We need something incredibly sugary." Theo muttered, thinking.

"Mountain Dew." Hermione whispered.

"What?" All three wizards asked at the same time.

"It's a Muggle drink, with a ridiculous amount of sugar in it." She conjured one up with her thoughts. The green can appeared on the table next her unfinished dinner.

"Interesting…" Blaise said uncertainly.

"Its so unhealthy though." She grimaced. "I don't think I can drink it."

"Damn it, Granger, drink the Dew crap so we can get a move on. I don't have time for this shit." Draco snatched up the can and thrust it into her hands. Shaking, she popped the tab and squeezed her eyes shut, chugging as fast as she could. It took about five minutes it, but she finished it. "Right, let's go." Draco led the way towards the door.

On the way to Snape's class, the four of them attracted many strange looks. Three well-known Slytherins and one well-known Gryffindor? Definitely not a normal sight at Hogwarts. That wouldn't have been a problem if they hadn't run into Harry and Ginny on their way to dinner.

"Mione, what the hell?" Harry asked, looking pissed.

"We're just going to our extra Defense lessons with Snape." Hermione told him tiredly, not up for another fight.

"Together?"

"We had extra research to do. We were in the library. Just part of being a student."

"Whatever." He glared at her and walked off. Ginny glanced back sadly at her.

Hermione sighed, wishing she could hurt the way she should have at a moment like this. She should feel anguish, pain, and sorrow at her best friends harsh attitude towards her. Instead, she just felt tired. So, so tired. "He hates me."

"He's confused." Blaise said.

"Well, it's a good thing he's not that great a student." She said.

"You're acknowledging that?" Theo said with raised eyebrows.

"Yes and gladly."

"Can I ask why?"

"Because if he was, he'd know the library is nowhere near here." She said with a light smile. This brought a chuckle from both Theo and Blaise, even Draco grinned a little.

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><p>.<p>

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><p>When they arrived at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Snape was setting up several potions on a table. Next to it, a desk had been transfigured into a bed, similar to the ones in the Hospital Wing.<p>

"Are we ready?" He asked without looking at them.

"I think so." Theo said, "I just want you to look these over, see if everything's in the safe zone."

Theo handed Snape the parchment he had been writing on for the last two weeks. The Professor studied the sheets for several moments before handing it back to him, "We will need to supplement in a few areas, but that should be sufficient. Miss Granger, if you would."

Hermione seated herself on the bed. She was nervous, thinking of all sorts of terrible and deadly possibilities. The worst? That she was simply mad.

"All right. Miss Granger, you are now in a much more healthy condition then you were two weeks previous to this. However, you are still at large risk for heart failure as well as many other life-threatening conditions. Because of this, I will be administering several potions to you prior to the commencement of the examination. The first, a simple Pepper Up potion, to boost your awareness. After, you will take an Immune System Stabilizer. The last potion is one you may find rather distasteful. It is a transfusion of magic energy, taken from a live subject."

"Who's the live subject?" She asked, slightly shocked by the normally rude Professor's polite manner.

"Mr. Malfoy."

Her eyes widened and she nodded, drinking the potions down as he handed them to her. When they came to the last one, a silvery, glowing potion shot through with red and black, Hermione paused, closing her eyes. Then she drank it down.

Draco.

Draco.

Draco.

Draco.

Tremors racked her body and her vision went dark, but she barely noticed.

There was only him, Draco Malfoy. His silky blonde hair. His fascinating eyes, sometimes steely silver, other times stormy gray. His fantastic body. His arrogant smirk. Everything about him slammed into her, washing over her and around her, consuming her. She felt she was falling, drifting, flying through a cloud that was purely him. Purely Draco. She breathed deeply, but inhaled nothing but his unique scent. Like icy rainwater, sandalwood, and something deeper, something all Draco. It was like the last few months, but different. More intense. Like it would never end, like she would never have a moment of peace. And she didn't want one. She wanted to lose herself in him, in all that he was, good and bad. Hatred and love. Filthy and pure. From head to toe. Beginning to end. Inch by inch, millimeter by millimeter.

He was in her.

Draco.

Draco.

Draco.

_Draco._

She was lying on her back, staring wide-eyed at the Defense Room's dark ceiling.

"Miss Granger, are you with us?" She nodded uneasily, "I daresay this confirms the presence of some malignant form of magic. What it is, I cannot say."

"That's not normal?" She asked, attempting to sit up and failing miserable as a wave of dizziness washed over her and gray sparkles filled her vision.

"Having a seizure and becoming unresponsive during a simple magic energy transfusion? Not at all. Once you ceased shaking, you stared at the ceiling, completely unaware of your surroundings and gasping for breath. You will notice your face is a bit sore from where Draco smacked you. He thought you were going into hysterics." He paused, waiting for her reaction. When none came, he continued. "We need to continue while the potions are still in effect. Mr. Nott…"

Snape gestured for Theo to proceed. Theo stepped forward and held his wand over the center of stomach and began the complicated incantation. He spoke so fast that the words were barely comprehensible, but his progress showed when Hermione began to glow deep purple.

And then…nothing.

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><p><strong>So I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, I kinda got stuck in a number of places. And then that rather irritating cliffhanger at the end. I was originally going to have like three chapters to post today, but I haven't had time to write, but when I get back from Spring Break, I'll have five or six, so be ready. I'm going to be in Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, hell yeah! Special thank you to my two lovely reviewers Thanks to everyone else for reading! –<strong>

**Seleen.**

_**Sneak Peek: **_

"_**Say something! Open up your annoying know-it-all mouth and speak, damn it! Fight back! Fight the fuck back! Give me a good fucking reason not to kill you, because right now, that sounds like a damn good idea!" Draco shouted, pressing his wand into her throat. **_

"_**I can't." She whispered. "Whatever part of me that would have yelled back at you, just died. There's nothing left of me now." **_


	8. Chapter 8

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Theo stopped speaking, Hermione stopped glowing, and there was silence.

"That's it?" Hermione asked.

"That… nothing happened." Blaise said, turning to Theo. "Did you mess up or something?"

"No, Mr. Nott performed the spell perfectly. There is no curse on Miss Granger." Snape stared a Hermione, unsure of what to expect.

"What do you mean, there's no curse?" Draco asked, taking a menacing step to towards her. His whole demeanor changed in an instant. If he was angry before, he was beyond furious now.

"I mean, Mr. Malfoy, that there is no curse. Miss Granger is behaving of her own accord."

"So Granger is just a crazy bint? Son of a fucking bitch." Draco lunged forward, pressing the tip of his wand into her throat. "You listen to me very carefully. You will stay away from me. I don't give two shits if you're _dying _because you want to be near me. Stay. The. Fuck. Away."

She stared up him silently, not even defending herself. The others stood by, watching warily. Everyone expected Hermione to start screaming, to rip him a new one for saying things like that to her. She did nothing. Draco's wand pressed hard into her neck and she didn't flinch. He yelled at her and she stared back at him with a mixture of hurt and longing.

"Why me, huh? Why me? Answer me, you whore!" Draco was insane with anger, the pressure of his precarious position finally breaking into him. With every scream, Hermione's expression became darker and angrier, but she said nothing. "I could kill you! You'll ruin everything! You've been fucking up my life since we were kids, always have to be the best, and always have to be the brightest. Never mind that some of us had way more riding on our supposed perfection then you!"

"Draco, you're being petty. Get away from her." Blaise said, stepping forward. Draco spun on him, eyes wild and furious.

"Get back! We don't have time for this, for her watching us constantly, for her killing herself and blaming it on some pathetic obsession with me." He turned back to her, placing his wand at her throat again. Her lack of response only served to make him angrier. "Say something! Open up your annoying know-it-all mouth and speak, damn it! Fight back! Fight the fuck back! Give me a good fucking reason not to kill you, because right now, that sounds like a damn good idea!" Draco shouted, pressing his wand still harder into her throat, until he knew it would bruise badly.

"I can't." She whispered. "Whatever part of me that would have yelled back at you, just died. There's nothing left of me now."

Draco's teeth clenched and he became deadly still and silent. "Real nice, Granger. Keep on blaming me. Dump all your troubles on me." A single tear ran down her pale face and Draco shoved her back, "Don't expect anyone to feel sorry for you! You're pathetic! There's nothing left of you? I'll wipe you off the face of the Earth, Princess!" He grabbed her upper arms, squeezing tightly and pulling her closer to him.

"You're hurting me!" She cried, attempting to wiggle out of his iron grip.

"Good, I want you to hurt! I want you to feel how desperately frustrated and completely pissed I am!" He bellowed, tightening his grip and giving her a shake before throwing her to the ground, then delivering a vicious kick to her ribs.

"Draco! Stop, you're hurting her! She's weak as it is, you could kill her!" Theo yelled, trying to restrain him, but to no avail. Draco shook him off like he was nothing.

"And whose fault is that? Huh? Hers. That's who. If I were hurting her, she'd stand up and fight back, like I know she can. But she won't." He kicked her again. "Will you?" Nothing. "Of course you won't."

"Can't…hurt you." She coughed, struggling to sit up. Snape stepped forward to aid her, Blaise right behind her. "Can't even blame you."

"Enough, Draco." Snape said.

"I'll tell you when she's had enough." Draco snarled, grabbing the empty potion vials and hurling them at his godfather and best friend. He grabbed Hermione by the arm, jerked her upwards and then slammed her back down. Sobbing, Hermione threw up, her dinner mixed with streaks of bright red blood.

"We need to stop him!" Theo yelled over Draco's enraged roars and Hermione's pained cries. "He'll kill her. I think I know what's wrong, there's something none of us thought of, but he needs to be restrained!"

Blaise nodded and turned to Snape, "We need to tackle him. On three…one…two…three!"

Together, the young Slytherin and the old Professor jumped on Draco, causing him to crash down on Hermione's bruised and battered body.

"I've got him." Snape said, though his face was whiter then normal as Theo helped him shove Draco into a chair. "_Incarcerous!" _Ropes wrapped themselves around Draco, holding him down. Panting, he flipped the sweaty blond hair out of his face and stared icily at them. Blaise rushed to Hermione and scooped her up, carrying her over to the bed.

"Now, Mr. Nott, what is it that you have come up with?" Snape said, breathing heavily.

"Some kind of mental link between the two of them." He said, "She said Draco's been on her mind constantly. I think he's been _in _her mind." Flicking her wand almost lazily despite his pale face and wide eyes, he cast a silent spell on the two of them.

An inky black thread connected them. A link between their minds and the most likely source of all Hermione's suffering.

"Well shit." Blaise muttered, glancing back and forth quickly between Draco and Hermione.

Theo spoke, looking directly at Draco. "Everything Draco has felt, all the confusion, frustration, pain, and self doubt he has experienced for the last two months, Hermione has felt too. The only reason Draco hasn't had any sort of breakdown is because Hermione has taken it all into herself, albeit unknowingly. That is why she can't stop thinking about him. Their minds are connected."

"Why only me, though?" Hermione asked, her voice was hoarse and she clutched her sides. Her expression should have showed complete agony, but instead she looked as furious as Draco had been moments ago. She shook uncontrollably and her cheeks had an ugly red tinge to them. "Why doesn't he feel what I feel and take it into himself?"

"I don't know." Theo shook his head, "That can only be determined by the caster."

"Who's the caster?" Draco asked, strangely calm.

"Again, I don't know."

"It seems that whoever did this, wished for Draco to remain in the dark on its affects, or find out from Hermione. I suppose the caster assumed he would take pity on her." Snape said, looking thoughtful. "Someone who doesn't know Draco very well, but would automatically assume he has a ah…softer side."

Draco snorted. "That plan worked real well."

"As it is, Miss Granger showed extreme restraint when dealing with Draco's emotions and probably on occasion, his thoughts. Especially in the last fifteen minutes." He sent his godson a scathing look.

"I don't…Granger…" Draco trailed off, not knowing what to say. He stood, the ropes around him falling way and hurried from the room, his expression one of confusion and…. guilt?

"How'd he get out of those?" Blaise asked.

"I let him go. I think Draco needs to be alone now, to think over everything that has just happened. Mr. Nott, I think Miss Granger requires medical attention."

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><p>.<p>

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><p>When Theo finished mending Hermione's fractured ribs and bruises, the three of them left together. She had calmed since Draco had left, though her eyes still had a dark glow to them, like she could explode at any moment, like Draco had.<p>

"So what now?" Blaise asked as Snape's door closed behind them and they walk back towards the main part of the castle, "I mean, they're still connected, right?"

"Yes. The spell only revealed the connection, it didn't break it." Theo said.

"So can you…feel him? Draco, I mean. His emotions and such." Blaise asked Hermione.

"Now that I know about it, yes. Its very subtle, the connection, not the feelings, but it is there. Like a thread tugging gently. It's the strangest sensation."

"So how does he feel right now?"

"Sad…and guilty. Mostly just confused. It's very jumbled." She rubbed her forehead and tripped, veering sideways into the wall. They walked in silence for a few more moments, but Blaise could hardly stand it. Too much had just happened for him to remain quiet.

"So…anyone have any theories on why he just went ape shit?"

Hermione quirked an eyebrow at him and stumbled again, catching herself with an oddly amused smile. "You're more like a Muggle then you realize. It's very amusing sometimes. Other times, its just weird."

"How so?"

"The phrase 'ape shit'? Very Muggle. American Muggle in fact." She gave him a wide grin, giggling a little.

Blaise frowned, both at her statement and her odd behavior. "Interesting… So any thoughts?"

Theo rolled his eyes. "Its not hard to guess. I mean, realistically, Draco should have blown up a long time ago, but Hermione's been taking all his anger and such into herself. The connection between them became stronger as she became weaker because she didn't have the strength to fight it. The stronger the connection got, the more emotion she took into herself. However, for the past two weeks, Hermione's strength has been growing. Her mind was fighting. When so much anger and violence started coming for Draco, her mind knew it would be overloading trying to take it in, alongside her own fear, pain, and shock. It would have been entirely too much. And then there's the fact that you are obviously Magic. Meaning your mind is more sensitive to mental attacks and connections. The magic in you would have felt it and protected you as best it could. It didn't bother before because it wasn't as bad, but in that single moment, Draco was furious, as well as scared, ridiculously so. Like I keep saying, it was too much. So Draco was left to deal with it and since he hasn't had to deal with his own negative emotions in so long, his mind forgot how to handle it and it took control, making him go, as Blaise so aptly put it, ape shit."

"So is he okay now?" Hermione asked, biting her lip and struggling to wrap her head around everything Theo had just said.

"I was hoping you'd be able to tell us. You already said he's feeling guilty and confused, but is it dangerous? Or is it just normal emotion?"

Hermione closed her eyes, concentrating on the thin thread that tied her to Draco. Guilt, anger, confusion, and a weird sense of calm. Like nothing mattered. Everything was strange. Dull and yet coming through so sharply.

"He's fine, but he feels weird. His feelings are warped. Numb, but incredibly clear." Her brow furrowed as she tried to get a better fix. "Its like they're all swirling inside him, but in a way that… limits them almost."

"He's drunk." Blaise said, smiling wryly. "When Draco doesn't know what to do, he drinks. A lot. Where is he?"

"I don't know. It doesn't work like that."

"Well, we'll just have to go and find him then." Theo mused, a mischievous grin forming on his lips. "Whatever he's drinking, its gonna be good. Hermione, go relax. Eat something. We'll take care of this. And try to act normal."

"…What do you mean 'act normal'?"

"Draco's drunk. Now your drunk." He said bluntly. "We need to go find him, before he does something seriously stupid. Plus, it's been awhile since I've had a good drink."

Hermione was taken aback by this, but ignored it. What the hell could she do about it? "You don't even know where he is."

"I have a hunch." He said, striding away. Blaise gave her a half smile and shrugged before following.

She glared after them. "Well, so do I."

Turning in the opposite direction, she headed towards the one place she was almost certain he would go. The Astronomy Tower.

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><p><strong>I may very well be one of the laziest writers in existence. I fully intended to write my ass off when Spring Break began, but I got sick, then I went to Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, which is one of the most beautiful place on Earth and then slept pretty much all day on Saturday and most of today, which is Sunday. I'm hoping to get two more chapters written by tonight, so that I can post them tomorrow…just gotta figure out what the hells gonna be in them. The next one should be pretty easy, a lovely confrontation between Draco and Hermione in the Astronomy Tower, being the main scene, plus a little more. Which will hopefully lead into the next one, making that easy too. So Chaco Canyon. For those of you who don't know, it's a canyon that contains many ancient Native American Pueblos, all built by hand and many over three stories tall. The biggest, Pueblo Bonito has at least 800 rooms and holy hell, going into there, I got tingles. It is just the most indescribable feeling. Like being sent back hundreds of years in the past. One room in particular, Room 13, felt strange to me. I wanted to sit in there and try to gain some understanding of what I was feeling, but I ran out of time. Still, amazing. I also saw all the other Pueblos there, climbed several ancient stairways and walked part of the Great Northern Road. A damn good way to spend Spring Break, if you ask me. Anyways, thanks for reading and please review- <strong>

**Seleen. **


	9. Chapter 9

Draco burst out of Snape's classroom, unsure of what to think or do. It hadn't been her fault. None of it. All this time, he had treated her like shit, despite knowing the circumstances of her birth and his Aunt's responsibility towards her. It… it had just been so much. The mission from the Dark Lord, at first resented and feared and then when he was told he didn't have to complete it, it was like a loss of glory and honor. A missed chance at redemption for himself and his family. All because of some stupid girl who had been a serious cause of irritation throughout his life. Then, when they had offered to get her healthy again and give her close contact with the object of her affection/obsession: Him, she had refused and resisted them the whole way. Still, the entire time he had felt hardly any irritation, hardly any anger or frustration, it had confused him. It became worse and worse, until all he could feel was positive emotions, something he had never really experienced. And finally, all he was left with was confusion. Confusion over why he was devoid of all negative emotions, which he had held close and kept him going throughout his life. Confusion as to Granger's strange behavior, her apparent illness, and her willingness to let him kill her. That day in the hallway, when he had his hand around her throat in a rare burst of anger, he had seen a look in her eye, the same that he had seen in his own throughout his life. A desperation for an escape. Even as he resented the idea of having anything in common with her, Draco could feel his fury draining and he clung to it, trying to push her to do something that would get a stronger reaction from her. It had left him again, until all he had was relief that Granger was gone and more confusion.

It had only gotten worse from there. Running into her later that same night, in the Astronomy Tower and the sudden, strange burst of fear that he felt when he realized she looked as though she might jump. Then, in Potions when Blaise had touched her and they had all felt an electric jolt course through them, pulling them together, towards her. Hermione fucking Granger, a huge pain in his ass. So much happened in such a short period of time. Hermione passing out, discovering her obsession with him, and then her heritage. Through all of it, he hardly felt a thing. It had all led up to the explosion in Snape's classroom, where no curse had shown up. A huge fury had surged into him and he had reveled in it, letting it control him until he was beating Hermione on the floor, unable to stop. Hating every moment and yet loving it so damn much because at least then he had what he had always known. Anger, pain, and a reason to fight. Too much. Way too much. Overwhelming, tormenting, shocking. Add in the incident from last year and you had a full-blown explosion.

His thoughts continued to swirl in his head in a meaningless babble as he ran up the stairs of the Astronomy Tower, breathing heavily. Ignoring the breathtaking view, he went to the small niche in the wall where he had stashed a bottle of Ogden's finest Firewhiskey. Pulling the cork out, he took a swig and relished the harsh path it burned down to his stomach. It made him feel better, gave him something else to focus on. Walking over to the balcony, he sat down and leaned against the wall, staring at the beautiful scene stretched out in front of him. The Black Lake shone brilliantly in the moonlight and light mist covered the grounds. So peaceful and yet so deceiving. There was no peace, not anymore. Their world was at war, about to catch fire and be consumed. Draco shook as he continued to drink and attempting to organize his thoughts. It wasn't long before the world started to look a little warped and rock back and forth. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Now that Hermione knew about the connection between their minds, she was probably trying to block it and from the way things felt; she was succeeding to some extent. He couldn't stop the guilt and self-loathing from coursing through him, along with a million questions and what-if scenarios that would never happen. What if he had done as Aunt Bella had asked and demanded in her now frequent letters and treated her like a princess? What if he hadn't just beaten the living shit out of her? What if she and Blaise had never touched in the Potions room? No, he couldn't think of that. She'd probably be dead and he'd be smirking at her funeral, never knowing.

An image of her bruised and hopeless face floated through his head, eyes sad and pleading, yet understanding. She had blamed herself after no curse had been revealed. It had been maybe a ten-minute period of time, but it had been enough for her to lose all hope of ever having her normal life back again. And even now that they both knew, they could never go back to their old lives. They were linked now, until they figured out how to sever the connection. Or before Hermione killed herself. A tear ran down his face and he squeezed his eyes shut, taking another sip of whiskey. He didn't want her to die. Maybe before he did…but even that wasn't true, he realized. He never wanted her to die. Despite how annoying she could be, or how much confusion she had brought him, he cared about her in a weird way.

Draco opened his eyes, but the world spun around him even while sitting and he quickly shut them again.

"Draco?" A soft voice interrupted his thoughts. He forced his eyes open again, trying to ignore the spiraling feeling. He knew that voice. He knew it very well.

"Evening, Hermione." He slurred, saluting her with the bottle. He watched her walk uneasily across the floor. Something about her walk… "Are you drunk?"

"You're drunk. So I'm drunk. Thanks so much." She said sarcastically, lowering herself down carefully next to him. They sat in silence for a few moments, both staring in opposite directions.

Finally, Draco had to ask. "How are you? I mean… did Theo… you know."

"Heal me?" She raised an eyebrow and gave him a boozy frown. "Yes. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have made it here. They're off looking for you. I believe they were hoping to get some of you alcohol."

Draco snorted. "Morons, they're probably checking in the dorm or the Room of Requirement."

"Even if they knew where to find you, they clearly wouldn't get much." She told him, gesturing at the bottle.

"Oh no, this bottle refills itself about 15 times. Very expensive. Very good whiskey too. You want some?" He offered her the bottle, sloshing a little on his hands.

"I don't drink." She tried to sound prim and proper, but ended up slurring her words.

"Come on, Princess. You're about half as drunk as I am and you haven't had a single sip. Try it. There's a first time for everything." He waggled his eyebrows at her, his usual intoxicated behavior starting to occur.

"It wouldn't be my first time drinking."

"Oh?"

"Maybe I'll tell you about it sometime." She bit her lip and eyed the bottle in his hands before taking it from him. "For now… cheers." She tilted it back and took a large swig, not even sputtering and handed it back to him.

"Nicely done." He noted. "So…what are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you. To see if you were okay."

"You came…to check on me…" He said slowly, then burst out laughing and laughing until he could barely breathe. "Oh… holy hell. You are such… a damn…!" He tried to gasp out between laughs. Soon she was laughing with him, both of them rolling on the floor, giggling hysterically.

"I suppose that it does sound a little ridiculous." She said once their laughter had subsided. "Especially after…you know."

Draco's goofy grin faded and pain flashed across his face. "I'm…really sorry about that." He said, moving closer to her so that they were kneeling in front of each other.

"I know. Its okay."

"Why didn't you stop me? I was out of control and out of line. You should have hit me back. I know you pack a good punch." He said, trying to make a joke, but they both remained serious.

"Because I deserved it. I'd given you all so much grief. Even now, I feel terrible." She whispered, her honey eyes becoming bright with unshed tears. Light brown curls fell in front of her face, shadowing it in places.

"You didn't deserve. You could never deserve that. You're such a good person, it annoys the living hell out of me." He sighed heavily, brushing her hair back. Her skin was cool against his hand, still the Ice Princess, trapped in a cold wasteland with they Ice Prince. "Its not your fault, it's the casters. Whoever did this to you…we're going to find him. Don't worry. And please, don't blame yourself." He cradled her cheek in his hand, feeling a warm tear hit it. "Don't cry."

"I can't help it. All this time, I've wanted to cry just to cry and now I finally am. I was telling you the truth earlier, when I said that the part of me that would have denied you is gone. You have all of me now and you don't even realize it. And I can't tell if I want this or not because of that damn connection." She stared up at him in anguish. "I'm so sorry. I'm interfering so much in your life. You don't need some stupid Mudblood in your head. I'm so sorry!"

"You're not a Mudblood. And you're not stupid." He said. "You're…brilliant. A bit scary and very ill, but brilliant."

Hermione trembled, unable to focus with him touching her. She reached up and placed her hand over his. "We won't remember this in the morning, will we?"

"Probably not."

"Then nothing changes."

"No." He pulled her closer and their lips met. He kissed her gentle and sweet, not understanding and not wanting to. This was all they had. Tomorrow, she would be overwhelmed with his confusion, frustration, and guilt and he had a meeting with Bellatrix. This was it for them. Moving so that she lay underneath him and his hand cushioned her head, he deepened the kiss and lost himself in Hermione Granger, for as long as he could.

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><p><strong>I think I'll leave it at that for now. Anything else would just be… too much, ya know? To anyone wondering, no they did not just have sex. Maybe later…maybe not at all. Who knows? Oh, wait! I do! Muahahaha. This is such a bittersweet story and there will be more like this later. In fact, here's a sneak peek:<strong>

_**Hermione opened her eyes and glanced around. She didn't recognize any of her surroundings, but she did understand one thing. Draco was gone. Her feelings for him… just gone. She didn't love him anymore. Why didn't she feel anything for him? **_

_**Then it all came rushing back. The fight. Harry. Draco. Bellatrix. The bond, shattered and leaving her feeling empty and so very tired. **_

**I won't tell you what that's from. It could be that next chapter, or the very last. You'll just have to stick around and find out. I'll also be writing a story called "Beautiful Disaster" based on the song by Kelly Clarkson, I heard it and it just brought to mind Draco and Hermione so that should be out sometime in the next week, or two. Its just going to be a short story, no more than three chapters, though I'm actually aiming for just one super long chapter. Thanks for reading, reviews would be lovely! -**

**Seleen.**


	10. Chapter 10

When Draco woke the next morning, the first thing he noticed was his pounding head and the sour taste in his mouth. The second thing he noticed was that he was not in his room, nor in the Room of Requirement, but in the Astronomy Tower. Finally, he realized he wasn't alone. Curled against him was a thin, warm body with a halo of curls covering the better part of her face.

"Oh holy hell…" He mumbled, "We didn't…." He searched the area around him and then checked himself for any telltale signs of a drunken interlude. Nothing. Well thank Salazar for that. Still… there was something. Flashes of Hermione's face, blurry and yet clearly sad and longing. Longing for what? Him, of course. It had been a rare occurrence for her to look at him with open longing, but now that they knew about the bond, she probably wouldn't hold back. Not to mention they were both drunk, of that he was certain. He looked down at her again and took in how perfectly she conformed to him, resting her head halfway down his chest, just above his belly button, with her arm thrown across his waist and her leg hooked over his hip. The position was incredibly provocative and with anyone else, it would have made him assume the worst, but with Hermione, it was more intimate and their was a gentle innocence to the way she had draped herself over him, like she knew nothing would ever come of it, but took comfort in him allowing her to be close for once. His own arm, dead asleep from being in the same position for too long, curled around her and rested on her shoulder, holding her to him. It made him feel almost possessive of her, something he didn't like. He immediately went about extracting himself as gently as possible so as not to wake her and make the situation even more awkward.

It took him a while, but he finally managed to set lay her gently on the floor, using her arm to cushion her head. He tried not to notice how light she had been, or how soft her hair was when it brushed against him. Stifling a groan, he forced himself to his feet and walked towards the door despite the pounding in his head and the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Whether it was from all he'd had to drink, or guilt over leaving her lying there, helpless, he didn't know. Just before he left, he took one long look back at her. She was curled on her side in the same position he'd placed her in just seconds ago. From the looks of it, she'd sleep for a long while yet. He almost felt bad for her; she'd probably feel worse then him considering her lack of drinking experience.

"_It wouldn't be my first time drinking."_

_"Oh?"_

_"Maybe I'll tell you about it sometime." She bit her lip and eyed the bottle in his hands before taking it from him. "For now… cheers." She tilted it back and took a large swig not even sputtering and handed it back to him._

The snippet of conversation floated through his mind, a partial memory of what had occurred last night. Maybe she wouldn't be too bad then. Still, Draco didn't want to stick around to find out. He needed to shower, change, and sneak off campus. He had a meeting to attend.

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><p>Hermione awoke, completely disoriented and incredibly uncomfortable. Her mouth tasted nothing short of foul and her head pounded. She knew this feeling. She had a bitch of a hangover. As she struggled to sit up, her head spun and took a moment for the world to right itself again. She sighed. She was in the Astronomy Tower and she had no idea how she had gotten there.<p>

She remembered one thing very clearly though: Draco and their bond. He had been here. Flashes of him sitting across from her floated through her mind. That and there was a bottle of extremely expensive Fire whiskey lying dangerously close to the edge of the balcony.

"Bloody hell." She moaned, rubbing her forehead. She had been drunk many times before, trying to numb the constant flow of Draco's emotions, but it had been a while. Her tolerance levels must have sucked. "Well, what do I do now?" she wondered aloud. She glanced over at the bottle. What the hell, why not? She walked over and picked it up. Full. She grinned, fantastic. This would come in handy on a particularly bad day. She shrunk it down, thankfully her wand had been in her pocket, and then slowly made her way towards the door and out into the corridor. She knew where she needed to go.

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><p>It took her a long time and quite a few pauses to rest, but eventually, Hermione made it to the Room of Requirement. Doing her best to remain focused and ignore the pain in her head, she thought of the room where she had spent the previous few weeks with Blaise, Theo, and Draco. The door appeared before and she hurried inside, nearly crying with relief when Blaise jumped up and immediately started talking.<p>

"Where the hell have you been? We looked for you all night after we couldn't find Draco and wow you look like shit!" He said, eyeing her wrinkled clothes, tangled hair, and pained expression. "Draco's hangover is hitting you hard, huh?"

"What?" She asked, confused.

"You know… he was drunk… it made you drunk. Now you're stuck feeling his hang over." Blaise explained, wondering how she could not have realized this herself.

"Along with my own! For shit's sake!" She exclaimed, flopping down into the nearest chair.

"Your own…oh you didn't! You found him last night, didn't you?" Blaise laughed. "The two of you got hammered together, that is just odd and hysterical."

"Blaise?"

"What?"

"Shut up."

He sniggered. "Sorry, I just didn't take you for the drinking type."

"You wouldn't believe some of the things I tried to block out Draco's emotions." She sighed, all she wanted was to eat something and crash for the next few hours. Thank Merlin it as Saturday and she had no classes. Wait…did she just feel the desire to eat?

"Blaise, something's wrong. Really, extremely wrong."

"What? What is it?" He said, moving closer to her.

"I'm… hungry."

"What?" The words sounded so foreign coming out her mouth.

"I know. It's the strangest thing."

"It doesn't necessarily mean anything. Snape told Draco he couldn't eat for 24 hours before the magic transfusion, plus he just spent a night passed out drunk, so his hungers probably high, which makes it a negative emotion which means its hitting you hard." Blaise explained.

"So what do I do?"

"Stuff your damn face while you can!" He immediately thought of every delicious breakfast food he'd ever eaten in his life appearing on a table in front of them. And then there it was, an absolute bounty of deliciousness. He and Hermione glanced at each other, then yanked their chairs to the edge and began to shovel in the food. Muffins, bacon, sausage, biscuits, chocolate chip pancakes, and large amounts of pumpkin juice were downed in minutes. Hermione savored every bite, thanking whatever God, or Goddess there might be for this one chance to enjoy food again.

"I need you to do me a favor." She said in between bites.

"Sure." He said around a mouthful of steak and eggs.

"When we're done eating, find some way to make me sleep."

"Why?"

"I'll explain later, just do it when the time comes. For now, lets keep on enjoying this. What else can we eat? Fuck breakfast, let's do lunch, dinner, and dessert as well."

Blaise felt a strange warmth in his chest. Hermione had become like his sister and watching her weight fluctuate between dangerous and extremely dangerous had been awful. It was an incredible relief to see her eating willingly, even if she was completely pigging out in front of him. He only hoped it would last long enough to bring her weight back into the healthy range. If all else failed, he wasn't above asking Draco to skip a few meals so the hunger would hit Hermione like this again.

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><p>Draco emerged from the green flames and fell into step with his Godfather. The time had finally come to report to the Dark Lord and Aunt Bella. It was clear Snape had walked the halls of Malfoy Manor before, since he never once asked Draco where to go and took the quickest, albeit most confusing, routes. Finally they stopped in front of the double doors that lead to the Dark Lords favorite place to lounge, one of many large studies in the Manor. Without either of them having to knock, the doors creaked open and they stepped inside. In the soft light, Draco could just make out the Dark Lord, sitting in a high backed chair in front of the fire and Bella, sitting on the edge of an elegant green velvet couch.<p>

"Draco, so good to see you. What news do you bring?" The Dark Lord hissed.

"Is Hermione alright?" Bella asked, getting to her feet and rushing over to her nephew. The changes in his aunt were astounding. She looked saner then she had in years, if not much more worn with worry over her goddaughter's safety.

"Yes, and more importantly we have found the cause of her…issue." Draco gestured for Snape to explain.

"Ms. Granger has been cursed with a bond, forcing her to take all of Draco's negative emotions into herself. This, along with the stress of the upcoming war, took a harsh toll on her and nearly cost her life." Snape said.

"Do you think whoever did this intended it to take her life?" Bella asked, her concern for her goddaughter causing her to ignore her dislike for the double agent.

"No, I think it was meant to serve as a distraction. She must have been coming to close to something she wasn't supposed to know about…like her heritage."

"How intriguing…" The Dark Lord muttered, "I have, of course, heard of Ms. Granger's brilliance before. "The Brightest Witch of Her Age." I believe they call her? Not many would be willing to challenge someone with her reputation, especially knowing her heritage… so who would do this?"

"I believe I may have the answer to that question, as well." Snape told his master.

"Oh?"

"I believe the caster to be none other then the one who originally took her life from her: Albus Dumbledore."

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><p><strong>Ah, I love a good cliffhanger. Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've been dealing with some issues and a serious case of writers block. Also, I've started the process of finding all my old stories, which are posted to my original account, and began editing and reposting them to this account. Only one short one-shot is up currently, but check it out. It's a tearjerker, so if you don't feel like crying, I might not… anyways thanks for reading REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW my lovelies-<strong>

**Seleen. **


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